Lydian Armenia begins construction of new Amulsar gold mine

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan on Friday, August 19 traveled to Vayots Dzor province to attend a ceremony marking the start of construction of Lydian Armenia's Amulsar gold mine.

This is one of the largest international investment projects in Armenia. The capital construction, which will run from 2016 to 2018, is set to cost $370 million, according to the government press office.

In the most active construction phase the project will involve 1,300 people. In ten years Lydian Armenia, the subsidiary of the British Lydian International, will provide 700 permanent jobs.

Amulsar deposit project is the first mining project in Armenia to undergo the environmental and social impact assessment in accordance with the criteria of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), ARKA reports.

The event was attended by government officials, foreign ambassadors, representatives of international organizations and other officials.

Amulsar gold mine is the second largest gold mine in Armenia with pure gold reserves, located in the south-east of the country, 13 km from the resort town of Jermuk, between the rivers Arpa and Vorotan. The field contains about 31 million tons of ore and 40 tons of pure gold.